The Passion of the Christ

As awards season kicks into high gear, Sunday night brought the People's Choice Awards, with the controversial Fahrenheit 9/11 from Michael Moore and The Passion of the Christ from Mel Gibson taking top honors in the film division – as favorite movie and favorite movie drama, respectively.

KOBE DISMISSED: In a stunning development Wednesday, Colorado prosecutors dropped sexual assault charges against Kobe Bryant after the young woman who made the accusations said she could not go on with the criminal case. Her civil suit against the Los Angeles Lakers superstar will proceed as planned, however. Neither Bryant, 26, nor his 20-year-old accuser (a concierge who claimed Bryant raped her after she entered his Vail hotel room on June 30, 2003) were in the courtroom at the time of Judge Terry Ruckriegle's announcement.

SOLD: According to the final count, Mel Gibson's The Passion of the Christ sold 4.1 million DVDs by Wednesday after only one day in stores, reports the Associated Press. While impressive, the sales figure falls short of the record holder, Disney's animated Finding Nemo DVD, which sold about 8 million. For a live-action movie, Spider-Man holds the one-day record with 7 million. Still, FOX Home Entertainment, which is distributing The Passion, calls the release the best-selling R-rated film of all time and best-selling non-English language film of all time.

Mel Gibson, whose controversial The Passion of the Christ is estimated to have made him $210 million, is the year's most powerful celebrity, according to Forbes magazine's Celebrity 100 power rankings, which combine media attention with bank accounts to decide the entertainment world's biggest moneymakers.

SUED: Mel Gibson's film-distribution company is suing Regal Entertainment Group for $40 million or more, claiming the movie chain shortchanged the company on revenues from The Passion of the Christ, reports Reuters. Regal, the nation's largest movie chain, agreed to pay Gibson's Icon Distribution 55 percent of receipts but reneged in May and offered only 34 percent, George Hedges, an attorney for Icon, said. Regal reps declined comment.

On an Italian hilltop where he was staging the Sermon on the Mount, Mel Gibson watched as lightning struck the man playing Jesus in The Passion of the Christ. A pink light engulfed actor Jim Caviezel's body, but miraculously, he was unharmed. Ever since, Gibson has told the story, with a wink, as evidence of a major VIP visitor to the set.

Facing whips and lightning strikes – not to mention a heated religious controversy – Jim Caviezel, 36, has weathered a storm in bringing director Mel Gibson's Passion of the Christ to the big screen. The film, due Feb. 25, has the actor (Frequency, High Crimes) carrying his heaviest role yet: Jesus Christ. While some groups have claimed that Passion is anti-Semitic, others have objected to scenes depicting Christ's graphic torture (the movie's been called one of the most violent ever). Caviezel recently talked about the physical and emotional demands of the drama, and why he decided to put his faith in Gibson.